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Euthanasia And Physician-Assisted Suicide

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Abstract: This paper will attempt to introduce the concept of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide (PAS) to the audience. This will be provided alongside the legal, moral, and ethical perspectives of those fighting against or for the legalization of the aforementioned issues in the United States. These are highly controversial topics that have been a topic of discussion for hundreds if not thousands of years. Some countries currently have legalized euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, such as Belgium and Netherlands. And many countries do not have them legalized, with no plans to change anytime soon. However, in the United States both issues are still being discussed in great length, with many moral and ethical arguments echoing …show more content…

The biggest difference is in the way they are carried out. Euthanasia usually involves a physician or some other medical or institutional third-party administering the medication to the patient. Physician-assisted suicide, on the other hand, involves the patient administering the medication themselves. Even though euthanasia is illegal nation-wide, several states in the United States have actually adopted physician-assisted suicide due to this crucial difference between the two practices. In the debate over the legalization of these issues in the United States, opposing viewpoints are deeply rooted in their perspectives on the morals and ethics of euthanasia and PAS. This paper aims to report the current state of the discussion of euthanasia within the United …show more content…

Those who support legalization are of the mentality that patients, or those close to the patients, that are terminally ill, should be able to make the call to end the patient’s life. Those who are against these issues are of the mentality that it is very hard to justify making the call to end one’s own, or even someone else’s life, as it can easily be looked at as normal suicide or homicide. The arguments for legalization involve having less suffering for disabled or terminally ill patients. While the opposition could argue that they can be medically cared for and allowed to continue living. The discussion stretches far beyond just life and death, as there are many cases of ill or disabled patients, each with different outlooks. The wide range of opinions from every walk of life complicates the decision of what is actually right, and what is wrong.
Conclusion: Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide is a very complicated topic to discuss with heavy roots in past traditions and religious beliefs. The debate in the U.S. is still ongoing. These issues will most likely be a topic of discussion for a very long time due to the ethical and moral standpoints, and we will see what the next years bring in relation to the advancements or halts of their

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